High In Arena, Zo Is Keeping A Low Profile

MIAMI — Heat center Alonzo Mourning stood behind his teammates Wednesday night. At a distance. In the shadows. Away from the action in the season opener against the Orlando Magic.

Making his first appearance at a team function since it was announced Sept. 12 he likely would miss the season because of a deterioration in his kidney illness, Mourning spent the game pacing, standing and briefly sitting in his luxury suite in the northeast corner of AmericanAirlines Arena, just above the Heat bench.

Coach Pat Riley welcomed the appearance by Mourning.

"He's tortured by this whole thing. This is a very difficult, difficult thing,'' Riley said. "And I think he's showing a lot of respect because he doesn't want to continue to be the story."

There was no acknowledgment in the arena of Mourning's presence, although he briefly was shown on the WFOR broadcast. He chose not to address the media.

When Mourning was sidelined by the kidney illness for all but the final 13 games two seasons ago, he sat on the bench at home games.

Riley said he was not surprised by Wednesday's low-profile approach.

"If he comes around all the time, he's the story,'' Riley said before the game. "So I think he's done enough talking about it and enough news conferences about it and enough articles about it. He just wants to be, I think, left alone and let him work on it and get healthy."

Brian Grant, who opened at center in place of Mourning, said he understood Mourning's desire to remain in the shadows.

"He's still part of this team, and it's probably really hard to come out here, knowing you can't participate, can't be a part of it,'' Grant said. "In just talking with him, I could tell it would be hard to sit on the sideline in a suit. You're going to have people [shouting], `Hey, we need you.' It's hard to hear that, especially when you know it's not like an ankle or a knee, that maybe I can speed up my process.

"I think his thing is he knows what we're going through, how much is on us. I think he's letting us do it and not only that, but he's keeping himself busy, too, with his foundation."

This weekend, Mourning will be on hand for the grand opening of the Overtown Youth Center, an educational and athletic facility he is funding. While his teammates will be preparing for a home game that night against Sacramento, several spouses will be on hand, including Grant's wife, Gina.

Grant said once the Heat catches a break in the schedule next week, he plans to sit down with Mourning.